


Wires

by orphan_account



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Abandonment, Asylums, Blood and Gore, Blood and Torture, Body Horror, Borderline Personality Disorder, Cannibalism, Insanity, Mutilation, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Past Child Abuse, Past Sexual Abuse, Past Torture, Self-Mutilation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-11
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2018-12-26 03:34:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12050442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: read the tags





	1. We Talked About Making It

**Author's Note:**

> read the tags

"Ain't he pretty, Blur? Prettiest one we've seen in a while, I'd say."

A brunette form is bent over another, cold fingers brushing over lavender locks. "Got nice hair, too," He murmured wistfully.

"S'a wonder why such a pretty thing came to visit us.."

Cracked sunlight pours through warped windows, letting the graffiti embellished over the walls be seen. Dust floats in the air, resting onto rusted hospital beds and filthy mirrors.

The Athens Lunatic Asylum. Closed long ago in 1993, but never forgotten.

"I wish he'd wake up," The brunette sighed, tracing his crooked digits over the dent he made in the other boy's head. "maybe I shouldn't'a hit him as hard."

His hands roamed over the stranger's body; prodding at his cheeks, mouth, and neck. He bent over even more, his nose almost touching the unconscious boy's. "You gotta wire, too-!"

Before he could elaborate, the stranger's eyes fluttered open and he sat up with a jolt, chest heaving.

"He's 'wake!" The brunette clapped his hands, the sounds of metal clinking echoing off the brick walls.

The pretty lavender-haired boy didn't seem as happy, however.

He scrambled to stand, desperately making his way to the doorless exit. He tripped, skidding to his knees just before he could run.  
His head spun, everything turning into a big blur as the figure once watching him mumbled something incoherent.

Looks like he wasn't about to escape any time soon. Or get to any sort of authority. What would the police do, anyway?

"What the fuck are you?" He slurred, backing away as far as he could. His brain felt like it was about to explode.

"M'name's Tyler!" The brunette-Tyler, spoke with a slight lisp, but the now (finally!) conscious stranger's eyes weren't focused on that. "Was'your name?"

Might as well get to know the sick fucker.

"Josh."

"I like tha'," Tyler nodded. "Why'd you come here? Did you wanna visit me? Blur said y'did."

Josh stayed silent, his pupils blown wide with fear. This wasn't something that should be in society. Ever. He'd heard stories about this asylum, but always assumed they were all for not.

"I like y'wire," Tyler pointed to the ring through Josh's nose.

Was the brunette just the leftover of some horrific psychological experiment? Josh's head was clouded and pounding.

He wanted to vomit. Didn't this kid know there was something wrong with him? Or was this his normal life?

There were..wires. Everywhere. In his body. Curving in and out like he'd been sewn randomly with steel thread. His left eye was black, possibly due to the metal that went from the tear duct to his eyebrow.

Some of the tissue was swollen; bulging outward from the foreign objects shoved underneath them. Josh wondered if some went through bone.

Besides the most obvious deformities, the brunette had short, uneven, greasy hair, mussed up after not being washed for so long.  
He was also missing his left ring finger, but it didn't seem to bother him much, especially since the bone poked through from his hand.

His skin was bloodstained, crusted around the spots where the steel entered him. He looked like a freakshow. And the worst part? The wires were of the same kind you might find in a garage. This wasn't medical at all.

"Was'wrong?" Tyler frowned, making the rod stuck between his lower and upper jaw bend.

"How are you-how are you alive?" Josh grimaced, not even wanting to know what hid underneath the ragged hospital gown Tyler wore.

"What y'mean?"

Tyler sat for a moment, staring at the disgusting floor he sat upon. "Ohh! You wanna know 'bout the wires," He giggled. "mmkay. C'mere."

He leaned forward, as if he were trying to tell Josh a secret. "You can't tell no one, though, I'll get taken away."

Pity. Pity was the feeling that replaced fear in Josh's mind. What had this poor boy gone through?

He followed Tyler's command, scooting forward cautiously. The brunette cupped his cheek, rods of steel cooling Josh's cheek.

The wires went right through his fucking hands.

"Doctors did it ta'me."

Doctors? The asylum had been closed for 24 years.

Unless Tyler had been living with this for that long..?

Josh shivered. His heart dropped to his stomach and he felt even more queasy than before. They never said anything about that on the news.

"Now s'your turn!" Tyler sat back and stuck his tongue out, showing off curves of wire that went through it.

"You gotta tell me why ya came here," He rested his hands on his thighs, the skin bare and proudly showing off each loop that went through the tissue. "'Cause you scared me real bad when you came. Tha's why I hit you."

He chewed on the ring poking out of his bottom lip. "An' 'cause Blurry told me to," He mumbled.

"Usually he has me kill 'em and eat 'em, but he said you were a special boy."

Oh _God _.__

__

__As much as that put Josh off, he's sure it was just Tyler's imagination._ _

__

__Right?_ _

__

__He wasn't even about to ask who the 'Blurry' character was.  
If Tyler lived in an abandoned insane asylum, he probably should've been there before it closed as well._ _

____

"I um, I was looking for somewhere I could be alone. Kind of just..think a little," Josh started. "but obviously that didn't work out. Because you're here." He curled his lip a bit at the end; involuntarily, of course.

__

"But.." Tyler pouted. "you..you like me, right?"

__

He crawled forward, settling so close to Josh he was nearly on his lap. "Right?"

__

"Yeah, yeah! O-Of course." What the fuck was he supposed to say?

__

"Good!" The brunette stood and helped Josh up. "'Cause I like you too, Joshie."

__

"You're gonna stay wiff me here," He hummed, lacing his stiff fingers with the purple-haired boy's. "gonna be me an' Blur's friend forever!"

__

Shit.

__

Why did he come here without his phone?

__

Now he was stuck in the middle of nowheresville, trapped in a locked-up asylum with a crazy kid full of metal. Fuck.

__

"Listen, Tyler, I gotta go-"

__

"No!" Tyler's wires dug into Josh's skin as he pulled him back, desperate to keep him there. "You're not leaving me! Not like the other ones, please-!"

__

He tugged on his hand, his once calm chocolate eyes now inflamed and wide. Josh tried to yank his hand away, fingers ultimately getting caught underneath the wire that looped through Tyler's palm.

__

There was a rip, a pop, and Tyler was screaming.

__

Josh had succeeded in his plan to get away, but he instead turned and stopped, watching what had just happened.

__

Tyler was kneeling on the floor now-there was no doubt that shards of glass were now pressed into his pudgy thighs. He held his hand gingerly, sobbing at the fluid now gushing from the wound.

__

__

Half of the wire had been ripped from his skin, leaving a knotted piece of metal and a gaping hole in Tyler's palm. His blood was..odd. It was so dark, it almost looked black, and it had a gooey, oil-like consistency.

__

__

Josh felt bile rise in his throat from seeing it, his feet now backing him away from the scene. Until Tyler was screaming at him.

__

__

"Look what you've done-! Look," He cried, shakily trying to push the wire back into place. "It'll never go back."

__

__

"Never," He shook his head and Josh for sure knew this kid was a class A psycho. He wasn't even focusing on the pain-just the feeble attempts to cause himself more harm.

__

__

Josh's head yelled at him to leave, it really did.

__

__

So he didn't know what the fuck he was doing when he crouched beside the brunette, slowly tearing a strip of his t-shirt off.

__

__

"Hey," He tried to coo, Tyler's wounded hand now in his. The blood felt like rivulets of gelatin gliding over his fingers.

__

__

He tried not to vomit as he wrapped the wound, leaving the unhinged part of the wires sticking out.

__

__

"I'm sorry," He mumbled, tying off the makeshift tourquinet. "I didn't mean to..pull that out."

__

__

Tyler sniffled, know poking at his new bandage. "You mean it?"

__

__

"Uh, yeah," Josh stood, scratching the back of his neck. As much as he wanted to run the fuck out of this place and never come back, he felt a little bad for Tyler.

__

__

"Y-You stay now?" The brunette pushed himself off the ground, wiping off glass and dirt from his thighs.

__

__

"I.." Josh looked around. The asylum had two floors, each filled with dozens of rooms. Why did it matter, though?

__

__

He DID walk here, after all.  
It was quite secluded.

__

__

God, what the fuck, Joshua? Have you lost your mind too?

__

__

"Yeah," He nodded, out of breath even though he hadn't moved an inch.

__

__

"I'll stay."

__

__


	2. I'm Sorry That You Never Made It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> everybodys watching me (uh oh)

Josh was really shitty at making decisions.

But then again, he didn't think much about his actions before he did them.

"This is Brendon's room!" Tyler chatted, pulling his new friend along as they toured the crumbling asylum.

There was a permanent stain in the outline of a body in Brendon's room.

To repeat, Josh was very shitty at decision-making.

"Tyler," He started, his stomach twisting and turning with each room.

"Next is the dentist-!"

"Hey!" Josh was not about to see that. "Why don't you show me your room?" He suggested carefully, swallowing thickly. His word choice had to be chosen precisely, on account of Tyler's temper being a bomb waiting to explode.

The brunette stopped for a moment, as if he were listening to something. "I think he's scared of the dentist," He said to no one. "I jus' wanted to pull a couple teeth out.." He mumbled the last part sadly, bottom lip stuck out in a pout.

The wires strained against his skin, two of which attached on each side of his top and bottom jaw, as if he were a puppet.

Josh ripped a strip of skin from his lip with his teeth.

"But okay!"

He could've passed out once he let the breath he'd been holding in for so long out, chest loosening as he tried to relax the best he could.

Long story short, he was terrified of Tyler.

Sure, the brunette was at least a foot shorter than him, but just the thought of something so small and innocent-looking (at least, as innocent as Tyler could be) tucking into a meal of human organs made Josh's skin crawl.

"I got th'best room," Tyler stated proudly, jabbing his thumb into his chest. "'s where they used to drain the people!"

Besides the three-legged hospital bed he called his own, there were bathtubs that sat in a corner of the room, presumably moved by Tyler. They were all bloody and had ridges along the sides, large openings in the bottoms.

It's where they drained the corpses of their blood. Josh forgot that that used to be a thing back then.

"Blur lives in there," Tyler chirped, pointing to a half-beaten wardrobe with one door swinging from the hinges. It looked darker inside than it should've been.

By closer examination, it was seen that the few things Tyler owned were the most horrifying.  
Things you might find on a Discovery Channel horror documentary.

There were teeth, piled in a small metal petri dish that sat beside a pair of bloody pliers on a makeshift night table.

A spool of rusted wire sat beside it, red spattered over it. Tyler stared at it with longing.

"Josh," He turned, fiddling with his chipped and ragged fingernails. "d'you wanna get 'nother wire?"

He spoke soft, as if this question were one of great importance.

Josh paled.

"I-I don't think I need any more, but-but thank you," He started to back away, the choice of running the fuck away high in his mind.

"He says you're 'fraid," Tyler frowned again. Tugged at the single piece of wire sticking from his palm. "it doesn't hurt. I promise."

Josh watched in sick horror as Tyler ripped the steel from his hand, leaving him with two holes in his skin. The tissue gave a horrible sloshing noise as blood rose to the surface once more, dripping onto the cement floor like jello.

That was it. Josh stumbled from the room, only to collapse against the wall and fully empty the contents of his stomach. His throat burned and his eyes watered but Tyler was crying and he needed to LEAVE.

His legs felt like glass, cracking and ready to snap with each stride he took.

He nearly tripped, coughing on his own saliva as his bones screamed at him to stop.

If he had just paid attention to the floor beneath him.

His foot caught on a pipe sticking out from the wall, his hands instinctively flying out in front of him as he tumbled to the cement.

And then his face hit the ground, cheek scraping over bits of rocks and debris that made blood trickle down his chin in a thick flow.

Tyler was calling for him and it was getting quite dark outside.

How could the sun set this fast?

Josh was running to what he thought were the exit doors, but just ended up in another room filled with medical gadgets.  
Footsteps pattered down the hallway.

"Josh!" Tyler poked his head into the room, ultimately scaring the living shit out of the pretty lavender-haired boy. He grinned.

"Found you," He sounded like a child that had just won hide-and-seek. "I found Joshie! An' now we can make 'm perfect."

Josh had two options.

The first being a more ballsy choice; he could tackle the brunette and at least stun him for a while, and try to run out, or, he could attempt to cooperate with Tyler until he could find a way to escape.

Either way he was still trapped in a corner as of now. And Tyler was very impatient.

He stepped closer, those petite hands twitching behind his back. Josh swallowed audibly.

"Tyler," He began, not knowing what the hell he should say to this lunatic. "listen-"

Tyler furrowed his eyebrows, causing his skin to pull in defiance against the wires woven through his muscles. Blood covered his thighs from where he hid his hands.

"I don' wanna listen," He stepped closer, letting out a huff. "you're not the boss of me!"

One leap. That was all it would take. Tyler could go down in an instant and Josh could find a window to climb out of.

His eyes searched for a weak spot in the brunette.

"I'm sorry, Josh." Tyler tilted his head and it was in the split second that Josh opened his mouth, to attempt to fight back, did the brunette swing a metal pan-a bedpan, he realized too late-into his skull.

He dropped to his knees, eyes rolling back into his head. Tyler knelt down and watched his new plaything slip into unconscious once again.

"Wish 'ed just stay wif me," Tyler sighed.

"I'll make 'm prettier this way, though."


	3. And It Pains Me Just To Hear You Have To Say It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wdywfm?

"Josh..!"

"Joshie! Wake up! Y'so pretty.."

Tyler frowned when the boy below him didn't answer, so he resorted to what he'd always seen as a nice wake-up call.

He smacked Josh across the face.

A giggle echoed off the walls as Josh came to, his hands instinctively going to his face.

Or, well, they tried to.

Tyler laughed again, tracing his dainty fingers over the latches restraining the lavender boy's wrists.

He was laid upon what looked like an old operating table, his hands and ankles pinned down tightly. Tyler sat on his waist, pudgy thighs holding him down rougher than he expected.

"See, I kinda lied.." The brunette stuck his tongue in one of the holes in his mouth where a tooth used to be. "I haven't really made'ya pretty yet, I was jus' tryna get you awake."

He rocked back and forth, showing off his patchwork grin. Josh saw a glimpse of what looked like women's underwear beneath the hospital gown.

Tyler stopped suddenly, his head turning to the corner of the room. "No! S'not like that! I told ya!" He scolded at what seemed like an empty space. But how could Josh know?

While Tyler seemed to be arguing with whatever he saw, Josh took the time to address the surroundings of the new room they resided in.

He looked around and saw the most horrifying medical equipment; stuff you'd see in horror movies and such.

And it didn't look like these supplies went unused, telling from the dried blood caked onto the metal.

"Nuh-uh! He's not even.." Tyler's cheeks turned bright red, the blush making its way down to his neck. Josh actually fucking heard something growl-it was barely audible, but Tyler had seemed to interpret it.

"I am not! I can do whatever I want to 'm!" He shouted, climbing off of Josh with a huff. "He's MY toy, not yours," He muttered, stomping to a small nurse tray.

Oh God no. Please, Josh begged to whatever God he thought was in heaven, he prayed that Tyler could have some sort of mercy.

The brunette glared at the corner, a pair of pliers clenched his his hand now. Josh started to cry.

"Mine," Tyler wrenched Josh's mouth open-and no matter how hard the purple-haired boy bit onto his digit, he kept his hand firm. Josh felt iron on his tongue.

The dirty pliers were shoved into his mouth, clamping tightly over one of his teeth. The left one, next to his canine.

Tyler was missing that one.

Choked screams easily covered the brunette's squeals of glee as Josh felt the tissue connecting his tooth to his gums start to rip, snapping and loosening the bone.

He pulled at his restraints uselessly, wrists digging and rubbing against the metal.

Blood started to ooze from the wound, his vision becoming more and more blurred before there was a final snap and Tyler was holding Josh's tooth like a prize.

"Told ya I could do whatever I want wif'm!" He said triumphantly to the corner.

Red seeped from the lavender boy's mouth, dripping down onto his chin. His eyes were nearly rolled back into his head. Tyler parted his lips and bent down.

It wasn't clear to Josh at first-the fact that Tyler was kissing him-until he felt a tongue slip over the gap in his teeth, licking over his sore gums and shredded tissue.

"You taste good," He mumbled softly after pulling away. "can I take more teeth tonight?"

"No," Josh gurgled.

Tyler swiped his tongue over his bottom lip and caught the last few drops of Josh's blood. He smiled crookedly. "Tha's okay. You don't have a choice."

Something vibrated the room-it sounded almost like a purr, but Josh was clearly delirious now-and it made the brunette puff his chest out with pride.

"Thank y'B," He chirped, hands now resting upon the skin Josh's t-shirt had failed to cover on his stomach. It made his skin crawl.

"Okay Joshie," Tyler shook his finger, as if he were scolding a child. "I'm gonna put jus' a few wires in ya, THEN we can play dentist again, 'kay?"

"Please," Josh spit blood out onto the table.

"Please wha'?"

"Have mercy," He shook, his limbs reacting to the pure pain and adrenaline running through his body-not the good kind, either. The kind you get when you're scared shitless. "let me go."

"Can't do tha'," Tyler stuck his tongue out. "y'special, but not THA' special!"

His chocolate eyes focused on the rusty stains starting to dry on Josh's face and the gaze went dark.

"You're gonna be th'product of everything the doctors ever did to me." His voice turned low, low and silky and just..powerful sounding.

Josh felt like he was going to vomit again.

"I won't feel pain anymore," His smile curved so far up his cheeks the wires in his face strained to keep up. "because you'll be my vessel."

His fingernails dug into Josh's skin, wires and all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a oneshot consisting of tylers backstory could be a thing. depends


	4. You Knew The Game And Played It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pulling

"We start wif'the cheeks."

Josh was officially out of hope.

"'Cause your face is th'prettiest part 'bout you!"

His chest heaved as he watched Tyler organize his medical supplies over and over, carefully aligning every last piece. His mouth was numb.

"I'll jus' do one tonight, 'kay?" The brunette licked his lips, fingers brushing over a bundle of wires. The metal through his fingernail made a clinking noise against the surface.

"Through th'right one."  
Josh was silent.

There was no use trying to bargain. Using force wasn't an option, with him being tied down and all, and the last time he tried to plead he got his tooth ripped out and a pair of lips on his.

But what had Tyler said? He liked the kiss? They had only just met.

Josh didn't think the brunette was capable of actually feeling love, but it was his only shot. If he could make a soft spot in Tyler's heart, maybe, just maybe, he could escape.

Love. The worst form of trickery.

Tyler uses the same sticky pliers he pulled Josh's tooth with to cut a small section of wire off of the roll. He turned slowly, staring down at Josh with cloudy eyes.

"It won' hurt."

The sun starts to set outside, surely slower than last time.

Josh feels his breath quicken, and it's like Tyler knows-he fucking KNOWS, because his forearm is pressed against his face, keeping him from moving it out of the way.

There's metal prodding at his cheek. It starts just below the cheekbone and above his jaw.

Tyler starts to push one end in.

It feels like getting punched, or maybe bitten by a thousand spiders, just in one place. The wire is cut jaggedly.

It breaks his skin and Tyler just watches, one arm keeping his victim steady while the other bores a hole into Josh's cheek.

His screams are muffled this time.

Once it finally breaks through the layers of skin, there's a quiet popping noise. Josh can feel it scrape over his molars.

"Open," Tyler says gently, wiping drool from Josh's chin.

He cries when he opens his mouth because it pulls and it hurts and his muscles cant do this it's going to _rip _.__

____

Tyler twists and turns the end of the wire so that it's knotted, stuck against the inside of Josh's cheek. It tastes dirty.

____

"Make y'like my lil' puppet," The brunette giggles, shoving Josh's face back down as he begins with the other end.

____

He must have gotten impatient, on account of the heel of his hand slamming down onto Josh's jaw and ultimately forcing the metal in quick.

____

Josh's eyes rolls back when he ties the other end off. He smiles.

____

"..Pretty." Tyler calls the blood gushing down the side of Josh's face. "Pretty."

____

It bubbles to the surface, his skin torn and irritated.

____

His fingers play in the mess, looping around the steel. Feels familiar.

____

He reaches up to touch his own face, to feel where the doctors had shoved wires in the same place. Over and over.

____

He wants to rip out all of Josh's teeth and then push them back in. He wants to pull him apart and put him back together like a twisted Barbie doll that got into the hands of the wrong child.

____

Tyler is a child.

____

He's a sick mishap, somebody's fantasy gone wrong.

____

_"Just an innocent boy." ___

______ _ _

"Y'like it, B?" He whispered, feeling the hands wrap around his neck. "jus' like mine.."

______ _ _

It hisses at him and he winces.

______ _ _

"Jus' thought he'd like it," Tyler answers. "'cause we're bestest frien's and all."

______ _ _

He has to stop his marveling of Josh to collapse onto the floor. _Blurry didn't like it. ___

________ _ _ _ _

He retches, but instead of something somewhat normal splattering onto the floor, blood comes from his mouth and stains the cement. It's not a lot, though. He dry heaves in pain. It's his punishment.

________ _ _ _ _

"'M sorry," He coughs, tears pouring from his eyes. "I'll do better next time, promise."

________ _ _ _ _

It growls and the hands are gone. Tyler's left with handprints on his neck and bent wires in his skin.

________ _ _ _ _

"Jus' like me," The brunette struggled to stand, his hand supporting himself on the operating table. He tilted his head at the unconscious Josh.

________ _ _ _ _

"Jus' like me, huh?" He repeated.

________ _ _ _ _

"'Cept you'll die."

________ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we'll let tyler have some more fun before his backstory is revealed.


	5. It Kills To Know That You Have Been Defeated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw underage death

Josh wakes up with a wire in his other cheek and a very numb mouth.

"Hi," Tyler's sitting on top of him again, tongue poking between the holes in his teeth.

"Fuck you," Is the only thing Josh can seem to slur out at the moment; his face feeling raw and sore.

"Mean," The brunette pouts and glides his fingers over Josh's face. "I made yours special, too. So they could match mine!" He tapped his cheeks with a smile.

Josh drools and he can't feel his tongue.

"But I coulda jus' left you for th'rats," Tyler huffs, climbing off of Josh with such purpose that he nearly fell. "'cause they were awful hungry."

He picks over an assortment of medical tools on his tiptoes, humming some nonsense song that couldn't worm its name into Josh's head.

"But so am I," He hissed under his breath. "gotta wait f'that, though, right?"

Josh's stomach growled in reply.

"Blur says there's two comin'," Tyler says with a hopeful smile. "we'll both get'ta eat."

The accuracy of Tyler's prediction terrifes Josh, simply because the sound of doors crashing open made him jump involuntarily from the tension.

"You really think there's ghosts in here?" The voice of a child makes his blood run cold.

"Duh, Brody! Why d'you think no one ever comes here? 'Cause it's haunted! Oooh!" The two don't sound older than 14 maybe? 15?

"Stop, you're scaring me!"

"Dinner," Tyler whispers.

Blurry purrs in the corner.

Josh wants to scream or struggle or do _something _that might help the two boys to escape while they can, but the crunch of sneakers against glass just grows nearer.__

____

Yelling wouldn't do much anyways. It might make the situation even worse, who knows?

____

Tyler's giggling and hopping around the dark form that once terrified him happily, lips curled into a devious smile.

____

"What's that noise?" One of the boys asks. Josh holds his breath.

____

"It's just a window or something, stop being such a pussy!"

____

No one will find your bodies, Josh thinks. No one.

____

____

They're coming so close and he actually prays for these boys, prays that they get the audacity to just fucking _run _.__

______ _ _

"I'm gonna take some pictures to see if there's REALLY any ghosts, 'cause Sam said that if you take pictures.."

______ _ _

Someone's fumbling with a camera and they stop right outside Josh's room.

______ _ _

Tyler holds something but Josh can't see through the shadow that curls around the brunette, almost as if it were seeping into him. He's ready. He's so, so ready.

______ _ _

______ _ _

A flash appears and he strikes.

______ _ _

There's screams, but it's hard to tell who they came from exactly.

______ _ _

Josh closes his eyes the best he can, but his ears are still left with the final sounds of those two unknowing teenagers echo through the halls.

______ _ _

The sounds that Tyler made, however, were the most gruesome.

______ _ _

They're ravenous, not human at all. Josh doesn't know in what way the brunette took the teens lives, but by the sloshing and snapping coming from the hallway, it didn't look like there'd be anything to bury.

______ _ _

It crosses his mind that that could've been him just days before.

______ _ _

The sun begins to set much too early again. Tyler walks back with blood covering his body. He's perked up quite a bit.

______ _ _

"Got y'dinner!" He squeaks, holding up a handful of squishy meat that makes bile rise in Josh's throat. It drips red onto the floor.

______ _ _

"No," He croaks. "I'm not-not eating that."

______ _ _

His cheeks have started to bruise and swell, making it even harder to speak, let alone chew.

______ _ _

"Don' be silly!" Tyler steps forward and pries Josh's mouth open with his free hand. "Jus' try it."

______ _ _

All Josh tastes is iron. He gags and does his damned best to reject the 'food' that Tyler forces down his throat, but it slips down with the help of slender digits.

______ _ _

"Good, huh?" The brunette gnaws a piece of bone. "Blur always helps m'butcher 'em. He rips them up so fast!" He laughs-actually fucking _laughs _.__

________ _ _ _ _

Josh is going insane. Because he laughs too. Just a chuckle, though.

________ _ _ _ _

He needs to throw up but accepts the next bite Tyler offers him. At least it's something in his stomach, right? Sustenance.

________ _ _ _ _

Maybe Tyler's just helping him?

________ _ _ _ _

He's fed until there's none left, Tyler insisting they must save the leftovers for later.

________ _ _ _ _

"'M all dirty," The brunette finally notices, hands sticky and crimson-stained. He turns his back and pads away from Josh, slipping his hospital gown over his head.

________ _ _ _ _

It's awful. More sad than anything.

________ _ _ _ _

His body, of course, is covered with bruises and wires, but..there were words, too.

________ _ _ _ _

Carved into his skin, mostly on his back. Until he turned around.

________ _ _ _ _

They're precise, carefully chosen words and Josh only knows this because of the word _whore _that curves above the waistband of Tyler's panties.__

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

He hums, feet shuffling in a manner that might look like dancing, but Josh was too focused on _PROJECT 01 _that titled the brunette's shoulderblades.__

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

But that was branded into his skin.

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_Girl _is scattered on his torso, written sometimes in delicate cursive and other times scrawled across his ribs jaggedly.__

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

It almost has Josh crying.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

And yet Tyler twirls around, singing his own imaginary song while the shadow figure he called Blurry danced with him in sync. It looked as if they were putting on a show. A very..sensual show.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

His hips curled with Blurry's, little squeaks and nips coming from his strawberry lips. His hands were red all the way to his wrist. Josh thought it could be cute. It could be.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Tyler seemed so content, so happy to just be swaying to his own beat, in nothing but the necessities. Maybe nudity wasn't ever an issue?

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Josh watches, and if he could smile, maybe, maybe he would. But for now he doesn't want the wires ripping.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Is this what Tyler had experienced?

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The thought passes through his mind and makes his breath still. Makes his heart sink.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Tyler is in fact, a victim.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

But he's also a culprit.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

His toes smear blood across the floor with every move. Whether it was from him or their previous meal, no one would know.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

It was dark when Tyler finally stopped, the sun tucked away behind the trees. Josh could barely see anything in front of him. His back hurt.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

But that's when the brunette spoke through the darkness.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Y'think I'm gonna kill ya, Josh?"

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tylers trauma is one that few could live through.


	6. I See The Wires Pulling While You're Breathing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lets delve right into a little action, shall we?
> 
> josh is scared  
> the police are looking.

"One-more!"

Josh has screamed so much his voice is nothing but a ghost in his throat.

He'd gotten no sleep, on account of Tyler getting restless and deciding to add a few more wires to his beloved toy.

They're in his left hand now, thanks to the hammer in the brunette's grip. One enters through the top and comes out of his palm, both ends twisted and sealed off neatly.

Another goes from the heel of his hand to the skin between his thumb and pointer finger. It's small.

The last, however-the one that's the most difficult-goes through his middle fingernail and comes out the top of his hand. There's pools of blood everywhere.

He cries now, eyes squeezed shut involuntarily as he listens to the sounds of crunching and squishing as metal is forced into his digit. Tyler hums.

"Almost done!" He chirps, finally tying off the end of the sticky wire. It has chunks of skin and blood on it. Cute.

"Please," Josh begs with his raspy voice and clouded eyes abecause he just wants a little _compassion _.__

____

Pity, even.

____

____

He tugs and writhes with what strength he has left, body too numb to even register the pain in his wrists and ankles.

____

"Y'wanna get outta tha'?" Tyler tilts his head when Josh nods profusely. He shuts the door and quickly rushes over to unhook the lavender boy from his restraints.

____

"If y'run Blurry will kill ya," The brunette picks at his nails. He's still only wearing a pair of women's underwear.

____

The first thing Josh does when his feet hit the ground is puke. He nearly collapses against the wall, everything and more coming up from his stomach. He heaves in pain, tears running hot down his face.

____

He spits once he's done and slides to the floor on the opposite wall, tiny sobs shaking his frame. His wrists are rubbed raw.

____

He doesn't even try to run. He just cries.

____

Tyler watches and frowns, his little feet making padding noises as he approached his purple boy. He settled right on Josh's lap.

____

His fingers traced along the tears and eventually found their way to Josh's wires, his digits running softly over the metal.

____

Josh sniffs. Lets Tyler wipe away the rest of his tears.

____

Maybe he just needs a warm body.

____

Josh stares at Tyler's features. His one black eye, colored so because of blood that filled and dried behind it. His eyes trail down to what he thought could be the cutest nose-like a deer, almost.

____

And his lips. Pink and pretty, maybe, if there wasn't metal curling through them.

____

But that doesn't stop him from wanting a little taste.

____

Tyler does it first. He kisses softly, almost timidly. The wires are cool against Josh's lips.

____

Maybe he does need a warm body.

____

Just some affection, to calm his slowly spiraling sanity. Even if it was from an equally-if not more-insane being.

____

Josh lets the next few moments be chalked up as his dumbest; he's cupped Tyler's neck, both of their mouths working smoothly with each other. Tyler's a damn good kisser.

____

Those petite fingers run down his chest, and it almost feels wrong, even, to be kissing something so delicate and small.

____

Tyler's like a kitten, but a kitten that knows how to use a knife.

____

Josh catches his breath in his throat when the brunette licks the dried blood from his cheeks. His tongue curves around the wires. Something burns in Josh's stomach.

____

Next come his fingers and hand, all the red lapped up by Tyler as if it were frosting. The constant eye contact doesn't help.

____

And then their lips seal together again and the taste of iron controls Josh's tastebuds.

____

It would be sensual, sweet even, if the brunette wasn't trying to kill him slowly.

____

They don't go past the kissing when Josh pulls away with red lips and feverish eyes.

____

He needs a warm body.

____

"Y'taste good," Tyler tells him. "better than th'others, at least."

____

Blurry snaps something incoherent to Josh.

____

"But not as good as Blur," The brunette drones and rolls his eyes. Josh shivers.

____

"Y'wanna sleep in my room t'night? S'real comfy."

____

Is this happiness? Is this what Josh's life boils down to now?

____

"I'd like that," He smiles, and the wires don't tear. They hurt like hell, but they don't tear through his face at least.

____

Tyler leads him to his bedroom by his hand, chattering about nonsense that just sounds like warbled text to Josh. He's so tired.

____

The smell of rotting corpses fill the halls, flies buzzing around last nights dinner. Looks like there won't be any leftovers.

____

Josh remembers Tyler's room when they enter, Blurry seeping back into his wardrobe and Tyler grinning happily with his new sleeping companion.

____

He then shivers and glares at the wardrobe, mumbling something about Blurry always making it cold at night.

____

Josh really doesn't know why he does it, but he takes his bloody, stained t-shirt off and offers it to the brunette, cold air hitting his bare chest.

____

He watches Tyler's eyes linger-whether his mind be thinking of lust, or how he was going to cut into Josh later, we'll never know-but he takes the shirt nonetheless.

____

"T'ank you," He hums, barely even audible. Josh feels stupid for not offering clothing to the poor boy sooner. Then again, why was he sympathizing with Tyler?

____

Tyler has him lay down first on a rickety hospital bed piled with flat mattresses for comfort. There's multiple sheets for a comforter, but Josh has slept on worse before.

____

The brunette curls into his side immediately, the t-shirt hanging loose on his skinny frame. His nose and cheeks are red from the cold of the night.

____

"Y'so nice, Joshie," He mutters, fingertips tracing over every ridge of Josh's chest. "I'm glad I didn't kill ya."

____

"I am too." Josh feels his heart beat a little bit faster because this whole ordeal is absolutely terrifying.

____

But it seems that his plan is working..? Tyler's obviously fallen for him.

____

But what if he feels the same?

____

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> stockholm syndrome.


	7. You Knew You Had A Reason

Josh wakes up to Tyler's screams.  
Not the best alarm clock, but it'll do.

The sun is just starting to seep over the horizon when he sees the brunette cowered in fear on the floor. He's crying.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Keeps bubbling past his lips in quiet sobs, his body shaking like a leaf.

Josh is almost afraid to approach him.

He stumbles from the bed, feet cautious as he takes a few steps.

"Please," Tyler begs and holds his hands to his chest. "I won' do it again, please B."

Josh is so glad he didn't come closer.

Blurry stands in front of Tyler, something of a glare smeared onto what looked like his face. Tyler sobs.

There's a hiss and Josh's blood runs cold. He steps back and watches Tyler stretch his arm out shakily, pleas of mercy slipping from his mouth.

Multiple cracks echo through the room and the brunette is screaming.

He holds his left hand to his chest, blood oozing from a new wound.

When Josh sees it he nearly vomits.

Tyler's pinkie is completely gone, ripped away as if it were never there. Red spurts all over his t-shirt.

Blurry purrs and is gone within seconds, leaving them alone together.

"Tyler," He mumbles, kneeling down. "here-can I see?"

"Don' touch me!" Tyler shrieks at him, tears sliding down his one cheek. The one eye that wasn't affected.

"Don' touch me," He took shaky breaths, cradling his hand close.

Why Josh ignores this is a pure mystery.

He crawls forward, no matter how many pieces of glass stick in his hands, and pulls Tyler onto his lap. He could've died right then and there.

But he didn't, for some reason.

"Why did he do it?" He murmured, fingers brushing through mussy brown locks.

"'M not hurtin' you enough," Tyler answers with a sniff.

Josh ignores the gooey liquid dripping onto his chest and instead frowns, his heart beating a little faster than before.

He doesn't know what to say, so it stays quiet in the room, save for Tyler's little hiccups or sniffles.

"He's gonna make me hurt you," The brunette finally says, rubbing at his eye. "'cause I won't."

The little feeling of comfort Josh once had is replaced by pure fear. "So..if you don't hurt me he hurts you?"

"Mhm." Tyler touches his wound and a long line of his 'blood' connects his digit to the mess.

"Somethin's gotta happen t'day, Joshie.." He sighs.

"Can I jus' kiss you a bit more before I pull more teeth out?" He said this innocently, so innocently that it sent shivers straight down Josh's spine.

"Uh-I mean.." There wasn't much time for him to answer before the brunette had connected their lips together again, arms thrown lazily around Josh's neck.  
Blood dripped onto his back.

Tyler didn't waste much time, it was obvious, telling from how desperate and girlish he sounded. Or maybe those were just his normal noises?

"Wish Blurry'd let y'fuck me," The words come from Tyler's mouth in a slur and it forces Josh to swallow the lump in his throat.

"Tyler, hey," He gently moved away, fucking terrified that if he tried to break their bond too soon he'd for sure meet his demise.

He wanted to have Tyler fall in love with him as his escape plan, but definitely not in this way.

This was..lust. Or love? Josh didn't know how Tyler was taught to show true affection.

"What?" Tyler tilts his head and fiddles with the wires through his lip. "don' you love me?"

"I mean," Josh's mind is going a million miles a second. "yes, I do! Really, Tyler, but I just-I don't think.."

The brunette furrows his eyebrows, once delicate hands now shoving Josh to the floor. "You don' love me!" He started to cry again, legs bracketed around Josh's waist. "Y'lied to me!"

"No, Tyler-"

Josh is shut up once again by a pair of soft lips smashing into his. All he can taste is tears.

This isn't love.

"Y'not leaving me," Tyler burrows his face into his lavender boy's neck. "no' ever."

Josh is the one that wants to cry now.

He's dragged into the operating room, where he pleads and begs and even _offers to agree to Tyler's last proposal _rather than to suffer through more mutilation.__

____

But Tyler just giggles and twirls the pliers in his hands.

__

Four teeth.

__

Four teeth, Tyler tells him, four teeth are going.

__

Josh cries through every last one.

__

He's left with a gap-filled smile, his bleeding mouth now missing all four canines.

__

There's shredded pieces of his gums bubbling atop of the crimson that paints what teeth he has left. He's half-conscious.

__

But Tyler made sure to clean up the mess.  
Josh squirms beneath the kisses with lidded eyes and teary vision.

__

"I jus'.." The brunette trails a finger down his love's chest. "I jus' adore you."

__

Blurry growls in agreement.

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tyler doesnt feel the same sort of pain we do.  
> emotionally and physically. 
> 
> a little spoiler: 
> 
> tyler was taught that the only way to show love was sex.  
> tyler was taught that the only way to show punishment was sex. 
> 
> end of spoiler-ish thing
> 
> its a possibility that his backstory wont be shown until this is over, which is actually coming up soon (sorry to say), but if you guys want more of this AU just tell me what youd wanna see in future fics <3


	8. It Killed You Like Diseases

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw

Josh sleeps on the operating table that night.

Well, if you could call it sleeping, anyways.

Tyler wanders through the halls, humming cute songs and absentmindedly chatting to Blurry. Then he's screaming again.

Josh can't move, nor can he see, but the SOUNDS, god, the sounds could be heard from miles away.

"Please," Tyler's crying again and it seems like he just can't get his emotions structured enough, can he?

But then a phrase passes the brunette's lips and Josh freezes.

"I'm a good boy."

"Don' make me go back, p-please," He sobs. "I did what y'said, please daddy."

Daddy?

Oh no.

Either Tyler had some serious daddy issues in the past, or someone's a little kinkier than once noted. Josh grimaces in the dark.

"No-no! Not th'chair, please, I don' want-!" What comes next is unintelligible, but it finally hits Josh that Tyler could be having a nightmare..?

Maybe he sleepwalks.  
Or it's a flashback.

That scares him beyond belief and still makes his heart ache for whatever Tyler might have gone through in the past.

The brunette sobs-genuinely sobs-the sounds of his nails scraping against the floor still ringing in Josh's ears.

That's what breaks him.

"Tyler?" He calls out tentatively, voice quaking with obvious fear.

The sounds stop momentarily, only to be replaced by shuffling. "Jo-sh?"

He's closer, in the doorway, maybe.

"Yeah, I'm-I'm here. Are you okay?" Josh says to the dark, eyebrows furrowed. Why is he worried about this boy?

"Um, y-yeah. I jus' made Blurry mad an' he was p-punishin' me." Tyler sounds awfully small.

"Do you want me to..comfort you?" Josh cringes at his own words but there's a body curling up next to his in no time.  
"Thank you." The brunette's tears soak into his skin.

Josh curls around Tyler; he wants to protect him. It seems crazy, sure, but..something's just wrong. About him. This asylum. The wires.

"Tyler," He talks softly. Extra precautions are vital.

"Mm?" The brunette draws shapes on his chest.

"Did the doctors-or anyone else-ever... touch you?"

Tyler freezes. "Well, duh, th-they had to, 'cause they're doctors, silly!" His laugh is anything but joyful.

The air in the room is stagnant and damp. Tyler shivers despite the humidity. It brings another level of broken to Josh's heart.

"Tyler," He didn't think his voice could get any quieter. "did they ever touch you?"

And the tears start again.

"Yes," Tyler whispers. "a lot. I thought it was 'cause I was bad."

"You're not bad," Josh is quick to say this, his barely adjusted eyes desperately trying to focus on the sniveling form against him. "nothing you did was bad, okay?" That's a lie.

"I killed my mama," Tyler rubs his eyes. "an' my daddy. But daddy deserved it."

"I'm sorry, Tyler."

It's odd, yes, laying on an operating table with a shattered boy cradled in your arms.

"D'you love me for real?" He buries his nose into Josh's neck.

"Yeah," Blurry's silent for the night.

"for real."


End file.
